A Caltrans spokesperson mentioned that a journalism student called the other day about a story on the economic impact of the “Bay Bridge collapse” on San Francisco businesses.

The student was politely told that the bridge was still up and running, and that businesses weren’t affected. There will be a quiz later.

You can quibble about the affect of the April 29 MacArthur Maze eastbound I-80-I-580 connector collapse on downtown business on both sides of the Bay, but it does seem that there has been some economic impact from the aforementioned collapse of the Bay Bridge.

At long last, people who don’t mind dragging their bags on and off of BART (or don’t have a car) will have to pay $3, starting March 1, to get from the Coliseum BART Station to Oakland International Airport. Senior citizen and airport employee fares will double as of March 1 to $1 and $2, respectively.

The current $2 charge for AirBART has been in effect since 1985, so one can’t be too shocked that the Oakland port authority decided today to raise it. At least it’s not going to $4 like the bridge tolls.

And consider that the extra $1 is for a good cause: Buying new natural gas buses. I’m guessing hydrogen fuel cell buses would require Read the rest of this entry »

Upon hearing how someone had set off a metal detector at Oakland International Airport yesterday and promptly vanished, one of my colleagues remarked that if she ever got into trouble with the law, she’d go to the airport to avoid capture.

Kidding aside, it’s somewhat unsettling that twice this year already, someone was able to get past a federalized security system and then Read the rest of this entry »